Tattoo
by Nightshade2412
Summary: Wolf wants a reminder of what's most important to him. Alex is surprised to be included in that category. For Spyfest Fic-Exchange 2017


**A.N. The prompt was simply "tattoo". I hope it lives up to expectations. It's just turning to December 25th here in the UK. Some people are celebrating by attending the midnight mass. I figured getting this ready to post was more important :D (though I'm not Christian anyway, and I've already had to go to 2 services today to help with the music).**

 **Please review! Either as a holiday present or a very slightly belated birthday gift :p**

 **Usual disclaimers apply. Onwards!**

* * *

It had been lingering at the back of Wolf's mind for a while now - several years, in fact - but it wasn't until Tiger's tragic death that he actually did anything about it. The man hadn't been in his unit, but he had been a good friend and he felt that if it had been any member of K-Unit, he wouldn't have been able to cope. And maybe he wasn't meant to have any identifying marks, but he was going to retire soon. He wanted to honour what was important to him before he forgot it.

His little sister was a secondary school art teacher and the night after they heard the news he dug his phone out of the bottom of his bag and called her, sitting outside with his back against the cabin wall. She was laughing as she picked up, telling someone to be quiet as she lifted the receiver.

He coughed awkwardly. "Hi, Cathy. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Jamie! No, of course you're not interrupting. I haven't heard from you in months. What have I missed?"

"We got back from tour yesterday. You know I can't tell you the details, but there was nothing particularly exciting."

"Nobody hurt?"

"Nothing they won't recover from." He sighed. "Well, actually, that's not entirely true. Tiger, from H-Unit. He was on a separate mission. We only found out yesterday, but he-" Wolf broke off, swallowing hard as his vision blurred.

"Yes?" Cathy nudged him, now sounding completely serious but with a gentleness he hadn't expected from her.

"He didn't make it back."

She didn't say anything, but in the silence he could hear the _I'm sorry_ and _It'll be ok_ and _I'm here for you if you need me_.

"So," he continued, taking a deep, shuddering breath, "I've been doing some thinking, and I was sort of hoping you'd help me with something."

"What is it?"

"I want a tattoo. I was hoping you'd design it for me."

"I could probably do that. What did you want?"

A small smile lifted his lips at the edges. He knew he could depend on her.

* * *

The final design came in the post two weeks later. He opened it in the cabin when he had a moment to himself, taking out the sheet with great care and tracing the lines with his fingers. It was just what he had imagined - all the animals of his teammates code-names.

"What's that?" Snake asked, making him jump. He hadn't heard the man come in.

Wordlessly, he turned the paper round and held it out. Snake took it carefully and his eyebrows rose as he took in the picture.

"I didn't know you liked drawing."

"My sister did it, idiot. I asked her to design it for me to get as a tattoo."

"Well, in that case, I didn't know you could be so sentimental, Jamie. You even included Cub. A wolf cub, no less."

Wolf snatched it back and studied it again.

"Of all the possible animals for a cub - couldn't she have made it a bear, or something?"

"Nonsense. She knows you too well, Mummy Wolf."

Wolf did a stellar impression of a goldfish for a couple of seconds before setting the design aside and launching himself at Snake, capturing him in a headlock.

"Take that back!"

"You're only offended because it's true!"

"No, everyone knows you're the mum in this unit."

"Well, if I'm the mum, I'm telling you to stop this immature display of the kind of problem-solving tactics used by teenage boys."

Wolf released him, grinning. "So you admit to being the mum, then?"

"Families can have more than one mum, Wolf. You're just still in denial. It's fine to accept who you are-mmph!" Snake was muffled by the pillow that hit him dead on the mouth.

The fond look on Wolf's face as he slipped the design back into the envelope didn't go unnoticed, but Snake let it slide with only a knowing smirk.

"So will you come with me? You know, when I get it done." Wolf saw the bemused expression on Snake's face and continued gruffly. "You're my best mate, Ken, you should be there."

"You think I want to waste my precious leave watching you get stabbed with a needle thousands of times?" Snake replied jokingly. "Actually, that sounds pretty amusing. Count me in."

Wolf called him something unpleasant, and he laughed.

* * *

Tiger's memorial service was held the next day for the soldiers at Brecon Beacons. Wolf tried to think about the man they were commemorating but all that was going through his mind as he watched H-Unit's leader break down in tears halfway through his eulogy was _what if that was me and it was Snake or Fox or Eagle who had been blown apart in some faraway land._ He didn't think he would be able to live with himself if that happened.

Then they were released with two weeks of leave over Christmas and he felt strangely naked changing from full dress uniform into civilian clothes.

The whole of K-Unit took the train from Merthyr Tydfil, on the edge of the Beacons, to Paddington station in London. They ate together at a tiny cafe tucked between two department stores and then parted ways; Eagle took another train southwards, Fox disappeared off into London saying there was "something I need to do", and Wolf took Snake with him to crash on the floor of the tiny apartment owned by an old school friend who'd gone on to become a successful barrister. Compared to a lot of the places they'd slept recently it was practically a 5-star hotel, so in the morning he was able to stretch out the crick in his neck and get straight to his plans for the day with the minimum of fuss. Snake jokingly told him to stop acting like he was in charge now they were on holiday.

"Quit complaining. We have until 0900 hours to be at the tattoo parlor."

"Oh-nine-hundred hours?" Snake teased.

Wolf blinked. Okay, so maybe he _was_ still acting a bit military. He'd barely even noticed.

Since they were used to being punctual no matter what, they made it to the door on the dot. Snake hung round for about a while ("Aw, do you need me to hold your hand?") before leaving for an hour or so. He came back with Christmas presents for his family, sandwiches and three bags of Skittles.

"Don't pass out," he said, opening one and setting it down in front of Wolf's nose. James gave him an insulted glare and pointedly ignored the Skittles for five minutes. Snake smirked when he forgot and started to absentmindedly pick his way through them.

By mid-afternoon, Snake was deep in conversation with the artist and Wolf was practically dozing off when his phone started buzzing from inside his bag.

"Get that for me, will you?" he mumbled sleepily.

Snake dug it out and answered it.

"Hi, Ben… Yeah, it's me. Jamie doesn't appear to be capable of stringing together a coherent answer right now." A pause. "Yeah, no, he's fine. He's just getting a tattoo." Another pause. "Sure, I'll ask him. James, is it ok if Ben brings someone with him at Christmas?"

"Who?"

"He says it's a surprise, but apparently we've met him."

"Whatever. The more the merrier, seems to be Mum's philosophy when it comes to Christmas Dinner"

Snake relayed the message and hung up. Wolf relaxed and let the buzz of the needle lull him back to a peaceful state.

* * *

The tattoo was finished in one session - albeit a long one, taking nearly eight hours. Snake double checked that Wolf knew exactly how to take care of it ("Ever the medic, Ken,") and then they left to catch their respective trains, getting caught up in the rush-hour commuters coming out of work. Snake was heading north to Scotland to stay with his wife and toddler (so far he was the only one in the unit who had been able to maintain a relationship for any length of time) and visit relatives, whilst James had been persuaded by his mother to stay with her and help make the preparations - Christmas was always a big deal in his family, and whilst he liked to be grumpy about the whole affair, when his extended family and their close friends were going to be there, including his unit, there were just too many people to say "no" to. As such - well, Wolf tried to forget about the time six years ago involving his five-year-old niece, her need for a fairy godmother when she was pretending to be Cinderella, and angel wings left over from the nativity play.

Fox still occasionally threatened to use the pictures as blackmail.

A week alone with his mother and grandmother brought out sides of his character that most of his colleagues never got to see. They spent half the time fussing over him and half of it bossing him around. At least when the guests started arriving first thing on Christmas morning, he was able to recover a little dignity just because having them around gave him back some authority.

First it was his siblings and their families: his older brother, with his wife and two children, including the girl from the Cinderella incident, who was now a dreamy pre-teen, and his younger sister Cathy with her husband. They didn't have kids, thank goodness, but it seemed that would change by next year. Then there was a catalogue of aunts, uncles and cousins to slog through. Eagle turned up alone, whereas Snake had arrived the night before as it was a long way to travel, especially as his son was only two.

The doorbell rang again for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I'll get it," Wolf sighed, correctly interpreting the look his mother sent his way.

It was Fox, the last one to arrive. On the step below him was a blond man, holding a bouquet of flowers and a gift obviously the shape of a Quality Streets tin, not looking the slightest bit awkward about spending Christmas with people he barely knew.

Wolf invited them in and forced himself through the minimum of social niceties with Ben before turning to the most pressing question.

"So who's the mystery person?"

"Aw, Wolfie, don't you recognise me?" the blond grinned. He had a hint of a London accent, but it had been lost with age and it took a few seconds for James to recognise him - if it hadn't been for the use of his code name, he didn't he would have been able to.

"Cub?" he said incredulously.

"The very same."

There was a moment of silence between them as Wolf wondered where they stood with each other, broken by Fox.

"Shall we go through, then?"

"Shoes off," Wolf commanded, leaning against the wall with his arms folded as they complied. Then he led the way into the crowded sitting room and announced, "Ben's here. And, uh…" He cast a questioning glance at the man in question.

"Alex. Alex Rider."

"Oh, yeah. Cub to you boys," James added.

Eagle and Snake exchanged glances. The former grinned evilly and bounded over, giving Alex a bearhug and pinching his cheeks, the stereotype of the way an older relative would treat a small child.

"Cubbie! You've grown up!"

"You haven't," Alex snarked, but he was smiling.

"Come and sit down, lad," Snake said, his Scottish brogue thickened in the week he'd spent with relatives. He patted the space on the sofa between him and Cathy.

Alex handed the flowers to Wolf's grandmother with a flourish ("Charmer," Wolf muttered), deposited the tin on a growing stack at one end of the table and sat down. Snake regarded him critically.

"You're limping," he accused him.

"I should've known you'd spot that. Bloody medic." Cub flashed him a quick smile to let him know he was joking.

"Don't avoid the question, Cub."

"You never asked a question."

Snake glared at him.

"I got mugged a few weeks back. Nothing too serious, and it's been looked at already. Though I notice Wolf over there isn't in the best of health himself."

"Tattoo," Wolf grunted.

" _Jamie!_ "

"I'm a grown man, Gran, I'm old enough to make these decisions."

"Let's see it, then," Cathy said.

"It's not fully healed yet."

"We're leaving tomorrow and this is my only chance to see it. And it's my design."

"Fine!"

He came over to her and turned around. "It's on my back."

She lifted the hem of his shirt until the whole tattoo was showing. Some of the detail was obscured by the peeling skin, but the image was obvious enough, a slightly more stylised version of her drawing.

"He did a good job of it," she said.

Alex leaned over to see, stopping her just as she was about to drop the shirt. His fingers brushed lightly over it.

"You haven't seen me in fifteen years. Why did you include me?"

Wolf pulled away, shrugging awkwardly.

"You're part of the unit, aren't you?"

Alex snorted.

"You are! We still get updates for your more serious injuries - which, by the way, is much too often for us to believe for a second that you were mugged - and "I wonder what happened to Cub" is still a topic of conversation that comes up when we're bored. Although," he added, turning a baleful eye on Fox, "Ben's been keeping a tight lip about how he knew where you were."

"Well," Alex said hesitantly, "thanks, I guess."

"I mean it, Cub. I may not have treated you right when we first met, but we're all here now if you need us."

Alex's expression was neutral, but he blinked several times, and Wolf wondered if he wasn't used to hearing people tell him they cared or if he just wasn't expecting that person to be him. Probably a bit of both, he mused. He wasn't stupid; the unit had guessed straight away that Cub was with SO. The memory of the stupid nickname, "Double-oh-nothing", made him wince. Not what a kid his age would have liked hearing before a dangerous mission. Speaking of which…

"How old are you, anyway?"

"Twenty-nine," Cub answered.

Wolf did a quick mental calculation. _Fourteen. What the hell were they thinking?_

A quick glance at Snake told him the medic was thinking the same. Wolf sighed and ran a hand over the stubble of his buzzcut.

"Right. For today, let's just enjoy the festivities, but we'll be continuing this conversation. We've found you now, Cub, and you're stuck with us."

That set off alarm bells in Alex's head, but he knew he'd be able to control what he said and keep the unit safe. He might have to open up a bit and put some trust in them, but strangely enough, he thought he was okay with that.

* * *

The next day, when Snake was lecturing him on proper recovery from injuries, Eagle was demanding a scientific explanation of how all his gadgets worked, Wolf looked like he wanted to murder the directors at MI6 and Fox was smirking at his in a way that said, _don't expect me to help,_ Alex was starting to wish he'd fled back to London while he still had a chance.

 _Fin._


End file.
